Photography. Life.

chocolate

Hello once again! I have not blogged in awhile, but today I decided to share another post with you all 🙂

We’ve had a puppy explosion over here, and it’s fun watching them grow. And a little stressful 🙂 They are ready to go to new homes, and I find myself torn between happiness about that, and also feeling a little sad. These are the mini labradoodles, and they get played with the most, because they have taken up residence in the garage 🙂 I will miss my welcome committee every time I come home 😉

There are 5 in the litter, but “George” is my favorite!There is lots of chaos here 🙂We also have a litter of mini golden doodles. They are so sweet and cuddly.

This is “Rosie”This one is “Oreo”And this is “Joe”We have more, but this post might get too long 🙂 It will be nice for the children to be home from school this week to help more with them.

We had cookie exchange here with my mom and sisters, and made some candy. It was a full day, but went too fast 🙂These oreo truffles are a favorite here!

Then we had the “helpers”And the snitchers 🙂His face when we slide the goodies out of reach 😉Cousins..So many yummy treats! The chocolate are a favorite at our house!! Here is the recipe!

And the taste testers 🙂I think it’s safe to say they were quite tasty 🙂It is nice to have a big selection to hand out cookie plates! So glad we do this every year!

Now for the musings part 🙂

My children came home from school the last day before Christmas vacation, with reports of all the school festivities, and who all was going to Florida over vacation. I could see the jealousy in their eyes, and I admit I joined them in their jealousy for a bit 🙂 Somewhere warm and sunny sounded quite divine, and we have never gone on any big family vacation. My mind went to how hard we work at farming, the low milk prices the past while, and how it seemed unfair that we can’t do more “fun” things 🙂

But my mind didn’t stay there long, as I thought of ALL my blessings!! Good health, my family, plenty of food, a home, a farm that we are working on buying, my home business, and so many more things that I can take for granted!! Life shouldn’t be all comfort and ease, should it? Because worthwhile things take hard work, and faith, and patience. Ahh, that last one is something I lack 😉

I admit to being extra stressed in December, allowing the STUFF to get the best of me at times. I think it was last Saturday night, after another round of cookies were being finished, and I was cleaning up yet another mess, the children heard me say, ” Well heaven is looking sweeter all the time!” 🙂 As it should be, right?

It is far too often I allow the daily things to weigh me down, and let that spirit of discontent in.

Friends, I challenge you to count your blessings this Christmas season! And share a bit of that Christmas joy with others!! Blessings, Jo

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I don’t always do this for Valentines Day, but this year I felt like it 🙂 So I pulled out the china, and the glasses that were collecting dust, and tried to make my valentines feel a bit special! I had fun snapping pictures too 🙂The centerpiece was cranberries and greens… The food….A little snitch 🙂 A candle lit view…I spoiled them with cranberry ginger ale and everyone got a chocolate rose.My happy crew. And real life! We did not get dressed up 🙂 Hubby was at his side job, and after milking, I came in from the barn to his phone call. “Sorry, but I won’t be home till after 7:30. So we ate without him 🙂 Well, life doesn’t always go exactly how we planned, does it? But by the looks of it, it was a pretty big hit all around 🙂Happy Monday , friends!!

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You do not disappoint. I don’t care if it’s blowing and cold outside. I still love you. You’ve made my bit of quiet this afternoon so sweet. I feel much calmer after enjoying your yummy goodness.And now the question is, how much exactly is a serving?? 🙂

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I don’t know how the weather is where you live, but here it is COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really would just stay at home if I could. But there is school children to take to school, groceries to get, and bible school this evening. But in between that, we will be staying warm in our home.

Time to unload some phone pics once again…. I don’t make this rollup very often. It has lots of delish chocolate, and is a weakness for me when it’s here 🙂I love watching and listening to her play doll!Momma/Daughter selfie #that’sactuallythesunshining:)My lunch – love taco salad!More playing dollOur regular Saturday morning breakfast. This is a momma sized pancake 🙂Helping hang the barn wash up on the drying rack before we head out in the wicked weather 🙂One of our favorite meals – mashed potatoes, parmesan chicken, and corn. All I could hear was chewing 🙂 Nice when you make a meal they like so much, they just eat, and don’t complain.If you’ve never had Longhorn’s chocolate stampede, you are missing an awesome moment if your life 😉 However brief that moment may be. It’s good this was shared by 4 people. I looked up the nutrition facts on it. Oh boy! It has a whopping 2,180 calories! Total fat – 131 grams. To burn off the calories? 605 min. of walking, 249 min. of jogging, 181 min. of swimming, or 332 minutes of cycling. Like I said, 4 people shared, but I could easily polish it off by myself. I’d just skip the icecream and eat the chocolate stuff 🙂 I say, worth.every.bite!!Home from BB’S. Unloading the loot.Bedtime snack. Oreos and milk. The 2 empty spots didn’t want their picture taken 🙂 Love my hardworking, tired farmer and his sidekick 🙂 Bad picture of a yummy cupcake. Mother-in-law was baking for something, and didn’t like how they turned out. Lucky us! We get to reap the benefits 🙂Lunch at Macs with a friend.I had a coupon. Buy one, get one free. Cue the happy dance. Put it in the freezer when I got home. Might share it 😉Making an “E” with pastaDale was discussing with our vet how our little man struggles with school books. His wife works with special needs children, and they were so kind to give us this hooked on phonics set. Tristan is really enjoying it! Another thing they suggested was abcmouse.com. He really loves it and it’s teaching him alot!

Have a blessed day! Try to stay warm 🙂

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It’s Christmas morning, and our house is loud and jolly. The children were bursting to open their gifts! Giving gifts is something that we keep pretty simple at our house. The past few years we have not spent much on gifts, simply because they have too much already. This year we did buy the older 3 a bit larger of a gift. Kirsten really wanted a camera, so she was tickled with that. I figured with her being 12, she should be responsible enough to take care of one 🙂 Devan got his LOOOng time wish of a bb gun. I have to say, it was so fun to see his face! And Tristan is loving his truck and cattle trailer to haul all his animals. Jenna got a play doh set that made her very happy. It’s worth cleaning up the mess, as much as she loves to play with play doh! She got little containers of play doh from her Sunday school teachers on Sunday, and she played and played some more with them. With this dreary weather, it was so nice for her to have that to play with!

While we try not to focus just on giving gifts, there is so much delight in seeing the happiness on your children’s faces as they tear into the gifts. And our sweet daughter blessed us so much today. She went around and handed out cards to everyone. That’s so her, she loves to make cards and notes! But I opened my card, and there was money in it. Same in Dale’s. And $1 for her sister, and $2 for each brother. I said, ” Kirsten! That is too much!” I felt wrong taking it, but I also could tell she really wanted us to have it. So I said thank you, as my momma heart swelled and the tears came rolling down. You know those moments when you feel so proud of them? 🙂 Because this is something that we want our children to learn from Christmas. That giving is so much better than receiving! It humbled me and taught me a lesson that I need to be more willing to give. She doesn’t have a huge amount of money, and was still willing to share. I’m just so happy she has a giving heart!

It’s time for this lady to get ready for our family get together. I’m so grateful we are all well today! Devan threw up during the night on Tue. night, and I was hoping and praying we could go today.

Well, we are back home again after a lovely time with family. The children are in bed, and things are winding down. We sure missed my sis and her family this Christmas! Merry Christmas, you dear people in Haiti! 🙂

Mom had a wonderful meal! It was loud! Their was intense games of Dutch Blitz 🙂 Good times!!

Above are mocha truffles. It is very good these are not around much! Dangerous to your health 😉Peppermint patties. These were hard to coat. We weren’t sure why.Yum , yum!This was after school. Everyone wanted a taste 🙂

And I’ll share a favorite recipe of ours. We call them chocolate marshmallow cookies. They are also called Amish Hats, depending what cookbook you have.

For the record, I adhere to the baking time pretty strictly. Some of your ovens may vary, but this worked good for me.

Glaze:

1/2 cup cocoa

1 1/2 cups 10x sugar

3 Tbsp. hot coffee

1/2 cup butter, melted

This recipe doesn’t have instructions for making the glaze, but I will tell you how my mom does it. She melts the butter on the stove, then adds in the cocoa till it’s dissolved. Remove from heat, and whisk in 10x sugar and coffee. The reason I gave her instructions is because I made them, and my glaze looked terrible 🙂 See below.I almost didn’t include pictures of this lumpy icing, but this thing happens sometimes 🙂 Betty Crocker I am not! I was going to hand them out on cookie trays, but these will not be going to anyone else. I was disappointed as they do take a bit of time to make. The good part. They still taste good, despite their looks, and we will enjoy every last one!! 😉

Mix together dry ingredients, and then add the rest. Fill cups 1/2 full of batter.

Filling : 8 oz. cream cheese

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

dash salt

6 oz. chocolate chips ( I like semi-sweet )

Soften cream cheese and beat well before adding the rest of the ingredients. Put 1 tbsp. filling on top of batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.

A tip for a moist cupcake – Do NOT overbake 🙂 I always set my timer for 14 min. and then check them. If I think the center isn’t quite set, I will do them 1 min. longer, but that’s it. Then I let them sit a bit in the cupcake pans after they are out of the oven. I think they may bake a little bit more just sitting in the pans.I often get compliments on these when I make them 🙂 Hopefully you enjoy them as well!

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If you haven’t noticed, I LOVE chocolate 🙂 I also love an easy recipe. This came from a church friend when she brought us a meal after I had Jenna. It is my go to recipe when I’m having last minute company, or feeding a hungry work crew. The best part – you don’t even need your mixer.

Crust : 1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (1 sleeve)

1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand sweetened, condensed milk ( I’ve used other brands, but I do like the thickness of Eagle Brand)

Toppings :

2 cups semi – sweet choc. chips

1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup peanut butter chips

1 cup miniature marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for glass dish). In 9×13 pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over butter. Pour sweetened, condensed milk over crumbs. Sprinkle with 2 to 3 toppings of your choice. Press toppings down gently with a fork. Bake 25-30 minutes. Don’t overbake 🙂 When I see mine browning around the edges, I get it out. Remove from oven. If using marshmallows, sprinkle on directly after removing from oven. Press down with a fork. Bake 2 minutes more. Cool. Cut into bars. Store covered at room temperature. ENJOY!

My family likes the semi-sweet & pb chips for the toppings, so that’s what I stick with. Let me know if you try them, and if you liked them 🙂